by jimwalton » Wed May 13, 2015 8:59 am
You ask if Christianity and science are compatible (which they are), but then you use illustrations of things that are not subject to scientific inquiry (souls, hell, etc.) As any scientist, or even common sense, would advise, we have to use the proper measure for the task at hand. No one would use a thermometer to test miles per gallon, or a beaker to determine the temperature. Each unit of measure works to measure its category, but not matters outside of its category.
For instance, while a lawyer can use science in support of his case, science is not what determines "guilty" or "not guilty". It's not the appropriate measure of proof. And while I may use "science" to create a recipe, I can't use science to determine if it was good or not. "Good" is in a different category not provable by a science lab. Obviously, it's a value judgment dependent on personal tastes.
As to your post title, Christianity and science are perfectly compatible. There is nothing in either field that by necessity excludes the other or is in direct contradiction. Actually, science and theism go hand in hand quite well.
But as far as the existence of a soul or the reality of hell, science is an inappropriate measure for the determination of reality or even credibility in those fields, just as science can't tell me who's going to win the World Series this Fall, or the power of "Numb" by Linkin Park.
There are different kinds of reasoning (inductive, deductive, abductive, intuitive), and the scientific method is just one of them. Science can't tell me anything about the beauty of a sunset, the justice of a verdict, the compassion of a nurse, the drama of a play, the depth of a poem, the terror of a war, the excitement of a symphony, the significance of history, or the love of a woman. Not only is science not all the knowledge there is, it may not be even the most important knowledge. The stellar track record of science can't teach me anything about law, it can't do lab tests on history, and politics (pragmatism and public opinion) is a complete contradiction of what scientists seek in nature. It's foolishness to think that science is the catch-all.
Like the logic of law, spiritual fields are outside of the purview of science. This doesn't discredit them, nor does it discredit science. Science is stellar in its own arena, but doesn't lend itself to every discipline.